Team Sky's initial aim in 2010 was to "create the first British winner of the Tour de France within five years".[7] Though later cut back to just aiming to "win the Tour de France within five years", Sky achieved their initial goal within just three years when Bradley Wiggins won the 2012 Tour de France, becoming the first British winner in its history, while teammate and fellow Briton Chris Froome finished as the runner up who then went on to win the 2013 Tour de France, thereby achieving Team Sky's primary aim twice over within the original five-year time period. Froome won Sky's third Tour de France title in 2015 and fourth in 2016.

History

Formation

The creation of the team was announced on 26 February 2009, with the major sponsorship provided by BSkyB. The company were searching for a sport in which they could have a positive and wide-ranging impact through sponsorship. British Cycling first began their relationship with BSkyB in 2008 with a £1 million sponsorship in the Sky Track Cycling team following the Summer Olympics in which British cyclists excelled. After a trip to the Manchester Velodrome, home of the National Cycling Centre, in 2008, BSkyB chairman James Murdoch quickly became keen on the sport.[8] BSkyB were lobbied by British Cycling and key figures such as David Brailsford to launch a British road cycling team which would compete in road cycling's major events as well as the three Grand Tours in Italy, France and Spain. BSkyB agreed to finance the team with the aim of a British rider winning the Tour de France within five years.[9]

On 9 May Wiggins became the first Sky rider to wear the leader's jersey of a Grand Tour when he won the opening prologue of the Giro d'Italia. That same month Ben Swift became the first rider to win an overall classification winning the Tour de Picardie. In the Team's first Tour de France, Geraint Thomas finished second on the cobblestones of stage three, and wore the white jersey as leader of the young rider classification.[24] The Tour was a disappointment for Sky though, with Thomas Löfkvist in 17th overall being their highest placed rider (Wiggins finished in 24th place). Löfkvist led Team Sky at the Vuelta a España, but the team withdrew after stage seven following the death of soigneur Txema González.[25] In total Team Sky recorded 22 wins in their debut season, with a further 50 podiums.[26]

2011: Grand Tour breakthrough

Team Sky again began the season in Australia, with Ben Swift winning two stages of the Tour Down Under, and finishing third overall.[27] Juan Antonio Flecha and Jeremy Hunt finished fourth and sixth respectively in the Tour of Qatar in February, while Boasson Hagen finished first in the points classification and second overall in the Tour of Oman later that month.[28] In the Classics season, Wiggins finished third overall in Paris–Nice[29] and Geraint Thomas finished second overall at the Dwars door Vlaanderen.[30] The team enjoyed a successful Tour of California, with Ben Swift winning stage two[31] and Greg Henderson taking victory in stage three.[32] At the Giro d'Italia, Thomas Lofkvist was the highest placed Sky rider, finishing 21st overall. The closest the team came to a stage victory was Davide Appollonio's second place on stage 12.[33] Geraint Thomas secured Sky's first overall victory of the season, by winning the five-day Bayern-Rundfahrt race at the end of May.[34] Boasson Hagen and Wiggins also won stages in the event, with Boasson Hagen claiming the points jersey. In June, Wiggins won the Critérium du Dauphiné, an important victory for Sky at the time.[35]

At the Tour de France Sky finished third on stage two, the team time trial. Boasson Hagen secured the team's first ever Tour stage win on stage six. On stage seven, just over 40km (24.9mi) from the finish, a crash brought down team leader Wiggins breaking his collarbone and ending his tour.[36] This prompted a change of approach from Sky, with their riders targeting stage wins. On stage nine, Juan Antonio Flecha was hit by a French media car, which resulted in Flecha colliding with Vacansoleil–DCM rider Johnny Hoogerland, who crashed into a barbed-wire fence.[37][38] Both riders were able to continue despite sustaining injuries in the incident. Geraint Thomas won the combativity award on stage 12.[39] Boasson Hagen came second to compatriot Thor Hushovd (Garmin–Cervélo) on stage 16, before winning the next stage with a solo breakaway. He also finished second on the stage 21 on the Champs-Élysées. Rigoberto Urán was the highest placed Sky rider with 24th overall, whilst Boasson Hagen's efforts gave the team two stage wins in an eventful Tour.

After the Tour de France, Boasson Hagen's good form continued, as he won the Vattenfall Cyclassics and took a clean sweep of jerseys at the Eneco Tour. In the third and final Grand Tour of the 2011 season, the Vuelta a España, Sky riders Froome and Wiggins finished second and third respectively in the general classification.[40] Chris Sutton won stage two, while Froome won stage 17 of the event.[41] On 11 October, it was announced that world champion Mark Cavendish would be joining the team for the 2012 season, bringing an end to months of speculation.[42] He was joined by his HTC–Highroad teammate Bernhard Eisel.[43]

Doctor Geert Leinders, who had been employed by the Team since 2011, was subject of an internal investigation after allegations of involvement in doping at Blanco Pro Cycling earlier in his career, and on 9 October it was announced he would no longer work for the team.[62] The impact of the USADA reasoned decision on doping by Lance Armstrong and team mates at the US Postal team led Sky to re-inforce its zero tolerance anti-doping policy, with all riders and staff being subjected to internal interviews. Two members of the coaching staff, Bobby Julich and Steven de Jongh were released from their contracts under the policy.[63] Head Director Sportif Sean Yates also left the squad in October citing personal reasons,[64] although the Telegraph linked his departure to past involvement in doping.[65]

2013: The second Tour de France victory

The 2013 season began with the Tour Down Under, where Geraint Thomas won stage two and claimed the points classification.[66] In February Froome won the overall classification, points classification and stage 5 Tour of Oman.[67] In March Richie Porte won the Paris-Nice, including two of the last three stages in the race, the queen stage and the concluding time trial.[68]Sergio Henao claimed his first victory for the team at the Volta ao Algarve, whilst Froome took a stage win at Tirreno–Adriatico. The team then picked up a one–two at the Critérium International with Froome securing victory with a win on the final stage and Porte finishing runner up with a victory in the stage two time trial, also securing the points competition.[69]

Froome followed up with overall wins at the Tour de Romandie in April[77] and Critérium du Dauphiné in June.[78] Boasson Hagen retained his Tour of Norway title, winning the points classification and stage four of the race in the process.[79] In July, Froome went on to win the 100th and 2013 edition of the Tour de France; claiming dominant stage victories on the stage eight final climb of Ax 3 Domaines, stage 15 to the summit of Mont Ventoux and the stage 17 individual time trial. Froome was narrowly beaten to the King of the Mountains prize by Movistar Teams Colombian climber and runner up, Nairo Quintana.

2014: Tour failure and the rainbow jersey

On 4 June 2013 it was announced that Australian Nathan Earle of the Continental team, Huon Salmon–Genesys Wealth Advisers, had been signed by the team for the 2014 season.[85] On 1 August 2013, the first day of the cycling transfer window, it was confirmed that Rigoberto Uran would move to Omega Pharma–Quick-Step for the 2014 season.[86] On 22 August it was announced that Mathew Hayman would leave the team at the completion of the season and join Orica–GreenEDGE on a 2-year deal.[87] On 6 September it was announced that the Irishman Philip Deignan of UnitedHealthcare would be joining the team after a strong 2013 season.[88] After heavy speculation at the road world championships it was announced on 1 October that Spanish climber, Mikel Nieve, would join the team on a two-year contract, following the closure of his current team (Euskaltel–Euskadi) at the end of the season.[89] On 23 December Sebastián Henao (cousin of Team Sky rider Sergio Henao) was announced as the team's final signing for the 2014 season.[90]

In April the team fortunes began to turn; Froome defended and won the Tour de Romandie,[96] Wiggins won the overall classification of the Tour of California[97] and Geraint Thomas won overall classification of the Bayern-Rundfahrt[98] - each taking control of the race by winning the individual time trial stage respectively. Poor luck returned at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where Froome crashed whilst wearing the leaders jersey,[99] despite taking three stage wins (two stages for Froome, one for Nieve) Froome finished outside of the top 10, 4' 25" down on race winner Andrew Talansky.[100]

In July, Froome returned to racing to defend his Tour de France victory, hopeful of overall victory Froome crashed twice on stage four and abandoned the race (having also crashed the day before) with Xabier Zandio abandoning on the sixth stage of the race.[101] As a result, Richie Porte inherited team leadership duties but lost time in both the Alpine and Pyrenean stages. The team's highest rider on general classification was Nieve in 18th position, 46 minutes 31 seconds behind the winner, Vincenzo Nibali[102] this marked one of the worst performances of the team and the Tour de France. Not selected to ride the Tour, Kennaugh went on to take his second overall race victory at the Tour of Austria, taking the points classification in the process.[103]

After abandoning the Tour de France, Froome announced he would ride the 2014 Vuelta a España where he finished in second position, finishing one minute ten seconds, behind the winner Alberto Contador. Froome was awarded the overall combativity award for the entire race.

In September, Wiggins returned to the Tour of Britain with the stated aim of defending his title. He finished third overall, winning the final day time trial by eight seconds from Sylvain Chavanel. Wiggins returned to action later in September at the road world championships, again with the aim of winning the time trial event. Wiggins won the time trial by over 25 seconds from perennial opponent, Tony Martin.[104] Wiggins won Team Sky's first ever rainbow jersey.

2015: The Third Tour de France and another World Championship

On 8 January, Richie Porte scored the team's first victory of the season by winning the Australian National Time Trial championships[113] and went on to record the team's first stage win at the Tour Down Under. Elia Viviani scored his first win for the team, taking sprint victory on stage two of the Dubai Tour.

In February the team dominated the Vuelta an Andalucía and Volta ao Algarve with both Froome and Thomas taking both overall wins respectively. At the end of February Stannard scored the team second classic, taking a second successive victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The victory was made more impressive as Stannard made the four-man selection with three Etixx–Quick-Step riders; Boonen, Terpstra and Vandenbergh.[114][115]

The team entered the 2015 Giro d'Italia with Porte as team leader with the aim of claiming the Maglia Rosa. After limiting the time loss in the stage 1 team time trial Elia Viviani secured the first win for the team in a Grand Tour since the 2013 Vuelta a España on stage 2, also taking over the Maglia rossa. On stage 10 Porte lost 47 seconds,[138] docked two minutes fine for accepting outside intervention,[139] resulting in Porte dropping down to 12th on the general classification.[140] Porte lost more time on the uphill finish on stage 12,[141] a further two minutes on stage 13,.[142] and 27 minutes on stage 15. He then abandoned on the second rest day.[143]

Chris Froome returned to action at the Critérium du Dauphiné, as part of his build up for the Tour de France, and the team won three stages and took the overall title for the fourth time. Peter Kennaugh opened the team's account taking the victory on stage one, just in front of the bunch sprint finish.[144] Froome went on to dominate the final two summit finish stages, taking victory at Montée du Bettex (stage 7)[145] and Modane Valfréjus (stage 8)[146] giving him a lead of 10 seconds over Tejay van Garderen.

The team went into the 2015 Tour de France with their "strongest team ever"[147] After a strong performance on the Mur de Huy Froome took over the race lead, and general classification by one second over Tony Martin. As the Tour entered the second week of racing stage 10 saw the first mountains stage, the summit finish of La Pierre-Saint-Martin, where Froome went on to take the stage win, putting significant time into his general classification rivals.[148] During the remainder of the race the team faced intense scrutiny regarding their dominant performances; Porte was punched in the ribs by a spectator in the Pyrenees,[149] and Froome had urine thrown at him by another spectator.[150]

On the first rest of the Tour de France Porte confirmed he would leave the team at the end of the season.[151] This would later, in August, be confirmed to be BMC Racing Team.[152] The team signed Alex Peters and Tao Geoghegan Hart as stagiares for the remainder of the season, with the former also signing for two years.[153] In September, Mikel Landa confirmed his move to the team for the 2016 season,[154] with Mikel Nieve also signing a two-year extension with the team.[155] Later, in the same month the team then signed their second neo-pro, Gianni Moscon,[156]Michal Golas,[157]Danny van Poppel,[158]Beñat Intxausti[159] and the 2014 World Road Race champion Michał Kwiatkowski.[160] On 28 September the team confirmed that Nathan Earle, Bernhard Eisel, Danny Pate, Richie Porte, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Chris Sutton would be leaving the team. The team also confirmed that Ian Boswell, Philip Deignan, Sebastian Henao, Peter Kennaugh, Vasil Kiryienka, Christian Knees, Mikel Nieve, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Xabier Zandio would be staying after signing new contract extensions.[161]

2016: First Monument win and the fourth Tour victory

With Chris Froome delaying the start of his season a number of key deluxe-domestiques were afforded opportunities to aim for race victories at the start of the season. Peter Kennaugh took the team's first one-day race win at the second Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race,[163] whilst Wout Poels claimed his first overall GC victory at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana,[164][165] in the process taking two stages, the mountains and the points classifications. Froome returned towards the end of the Australian cycling season to claim the team's first ever GC win at the Herald Sun Tour.[166] Geraint Thomas enjoyed a successful start to his 2016 campaign, notching up overall victories at Volta ao Algarve[167] (for the second successive year) and Paris–Nice.[168] Thomas' victory in the French stage race means that Sky have won four of the past five editions.

Sky entered the spring classics campaign with the perennial aim of claiming their first monument race. New recruit, Michał Kwiatkowski, took his first victory for the team in the E3 Harelbeke semi-classic.[169] As the classics campaign progressed the team showed great consistency, but fell short of their goal again, taking second in Milan–San Remo,[170] fifth at the Tour of Flanders[171] and third at Paris–Roubaix.[172] Upon entering the Ardennes classics the team pinned their hopes on Kwiatkowski at La Fleche Wallonne, to no avail.[173] Entering the final monument of the spring, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the team again led with Kwiatkowski. Sky finally achieved their coveted monument win, but it wasn't Kwiatkowski, but rather, domestique Wout Poels who emerged victorious on a day with poor weather conditions and enduring snow.[174]

New recruit Mikel Landa claimed his first overall win for team - taking the GC at the 2016 Giro del Trentino only a week after claiming his first stage win for the team. Landa's stated aim for the first half of the season is the Giro d'Italia.[175] Froome added to Sky's race win total by successfully defending his Critérium du Dauphiné title after taking the overall lead with a victory on stage 5 to Vaujany, becoming the fifth rider to win the overall title three times.

The team went into the 2016 Tour de France with what was without question an even stronger squad than the previous year. A week into the race on stage 8, Froome took many by surprise by attacking on the descent of the Col de Peyresourde that caught his rivals off guard, resulting in a solo victory into Bagnères-de-Luchon to take the yellow jersey. On stage 11 to Montpellier in crosswinds, he gained more time as part of a 4-man breakaway in the final 12 kilometres of the stage alongside green jersey wearer Peter Sagan, Sagan's Tinkoff teammate Maciej Bodnar, and Froome's own teammate Geraint Thomas, placing second to Sagan in a sprint finish.
On stage 12 to Mont Ventoux (which was shortened to Chalet Reynard due to high winds), Froome was involved in a crash involving a stopped motorbike that also sent Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema down. With no usable bike, Froome had no choice but to run partway up the mountain until he was able to get a spare bike from his team car. Provisionally he had fallen to sixth place overall which would have given the yellow jersey to Adam Yates, however race officials decided to give him and Porte the same time as Mollema, ensuring Froome would hold on to his first overall position.
Superb performances in both the individual time trials (second on stage 13 to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc and winner of stage 18 to Megève) allowed Froome to gain even more time on his rivals, and despite a crash on stage 19 to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains where he finished the stage on Thomas' bike with support from Wout Poels, it was enough for him to win the race overall 4:05 ahead of second-placed Romain Bardet, becoming the first British rider to win the Tour on three occasions, the fourth rider to become a 3-time winner (joining Philippe Thys, Louison Bobet and Greg LeMond), and the first since Miguel Indurain in 1995 to successfully defend his title. It was also the first time the team finished a Grand Tour with all nine riders intact.

Sky started off their 2016 Vuelta a España campaign in late August by winning the team time trial on stage 1 and holding the red jersey for 2 days before surrendering it on stage 3, where Chris Froome took a 4th-place finish at Mirador de Ézaro to elevate himself into third place in the overall standings. He then got the victory on stage 11 at Peña Cabarga, the very same mountain where he got his first-ever Grand Tour stage win in 2011, and put himself into second overall just under a minute behind race leader Nairo Quintana.
A series of early attacks by Quntana and Alberto Contador on stage 15 to Aramon Formigal blew the race apart, causing Froome to be isolated from his teammates and to lose more than 2 and a half minutes on his rival. He gained most of that time back on the stage 19 time trial to Calp with a dominant performance, but was unable to make up the difference in the penultimate stage, finishing second overall in the end by just 1:23 behind Quintana. It was Froome's second Grand Tour podium following his win at the Tour de France, and just coming off of winning the bronze medal in the time trial at the Olympic Games in Rio.

The team finished the 2016 season 3rd overall in the UCI World Tour team rankings, with Froome as its highest-ranked rider, finishing 3rd overall in the individual rider ranking.

Sponsorship

According to the results of a study commissioned by Cyclingnews.com and performed by Repucom, the team gave more media value to their sponsors and partners than any other cycling team. The team delivered approximately $550m in advertising value, the highest amount achieved by any professional team.[184]

On 25 June 2013, the team announced that the logo of 21st Century Fox (the direct successor to News Corporation following the spin-off of its publishing business), will appear on the team's kit and team vehicles.[184]

Media

A five-part documentary series following the team's 2012 season, Team Sky and British Cycling: The Road to Glory, premiered on Sky Atlantic on 30 August 2012.[195] Another documentary Bradley Wiggins: A Year in Yellow, following Wiggins' exploits in the 2012 season was first shown on the same channel in November 2012.[196] The team have also produced two books chronicling the 2012 Tour de France and 2013 season- 21 Days to Glory[197] and The Pain and the Glory.

Doping policy

The team has a zero-tolerance approach to doping.[198][199] All its riders and staff must sign an agreement that they have no past or present involvement in taking illegal substances. Anyone breaching the agreement at any time must leave the squad.[200] Previous team members such as team doctor Geert Leinders,[201] sports director Steven de Jongh and coach Bobby Julich[202] have all left the team when their involvement in doping prior to working with Sky became known.

This approach has been criticised by David Howman of WADA, who has argued that fear of losing their job will discourage people with a history of doping from confessing.[203]

Although there have been speculations that Team Sky's tactics and success imply use of banned substances, Brailsford has strenuously denied any team use of illegal substances, citing his team's success in the Olympics as proof that you don't need to dope to dominate.[204]

In September 2013, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was asked by the UCI to explain a potential discrepancy in his biological passport data.[205] In December 2013, British Cycling confirmed it had been instructed to begin disciplinary proceedings against Tiernan-Locke by the UCI.[206] Sky stated the blood values in question were taken in 2012, when Tiernan-Locke was a member of the Endura Racing squad, and he was suspended from all team activities pending a decision.[206] In July 2014 Tiernan-Locke was banned from competition until 31 December 2015 by the UCI, resulting in his contract with the team being terminated with immediate effect.[207][208]

In March 2014, Sergio Henao was removed from race schedules for at least eight weeks pending the conclusion of an "altitude research programme", following tests that were taken over the winter whilst Henao was training at altitude in Colombia.[209] In June 2014, Henao returned to racing at the Tour de Suisse, after completing an independent research programme investigating the physiology of "altitude natives" in conjunction with the University of Sheffield.[210]

In April 2016, the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) opened an investigation into Sergio Henao's biological passport data from between 2011 and 2015.[211] As a result, the team withdrew Henao from their active roster.[212] After investigation, including a review of the research done in the previous year for Team Sky, CADF declared Henao had no case to answer, and he was restored to the racing squad.